During the Great Recession, it seemed like every millennial except Lena Dunham decided to enroll in grad school.

The logic appeared sound: Wait out the squishy economy and reenter the job market with greater earning potential.

These days, however, as the US confronts an economic downturn and tech companies slash payrolls, experts are warning prospective MBAs and JDs to reconsider dropping six figures for a fancy-schmancy degree, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Business schools are marketing to jobless techies

Recently laid-off tech workers can apply to Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management without submitting standardized test scores. Other schools like MIT Sloan and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business have waived entrance fees and extended deadlines.

But 2023’s economic climate makes grad school less enticing than during the Great Recession:

• The downturn is not widespread yet, so laid-off employees have a good chance of finding something new.
• Inflation means rent and daily expenses are even less affordable on the limited salary of a student.
• Average interest rates on new student loans have increased, as has tuition. The median debt load of master’s degree recipients was ~$61k in 2016, a twofold increase since 2000.

Grad school isn’t always the wrong bet

People with professional and master’s degrees still make more, on average, than those without them. They’re also more likely to be sought for management positions.

And data tools from the BLS and College Scorecard can help indicate whether the debt is worth it.

But experts advise against using grad school as a “procrastinating tactic,” per WSJ.

Plus: If you get laid off and have a gap in your resume, it might not matter. Gen Zers are actually embracing resume gaps.

In 2015, at a Southern California Costco, a 78-year-old was punched in the face after accusing a 24-year-old of hogging too many Nutella waffle samples. An arrest was made.

It may seem odd that a few small nibbles on toothpicks would incite violence, but this conduct is rooted in behavioral psychology.

Humans love getting free stuff. Free samples, free shipping, free content — it all makes us do very strange, irrational things. Like, for instance, getting a tattoo when we weren’t considering one, or punching someone in the face over one-inch waffles.

So we took a deep dive into how free stuff makes us irrational. You can read the full story here, or…

Idaho police recently arrested Bryan Kohberger on suspicion of murdering four college students in November.

The tech used to apprehend him is a controversial one that involves public DNA databases, per Business Insider.

How it works

Online tools, like GEDmatch, compare DNA test results from companies like 23andMe and Ancestry. Users download their DNA data file, upload it to GEDmatch, and potentially find relatives around the world.

But cops use GEDmatch, too:

• In 2018, police used GEDmatch to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo, AKA the Golden State Killer, after matching crime scene DNA to his distant relative.
• In 2019, GEDmatch was acquired by Verogen, a forensic firm that works with law enforcement. Now, users who opt to share DNA do so with investigators.

It’s a complicated issue

Some advocates tout the tech’s ability to solve cold cases and exonerate the innocent.

Others argue it’s a violation of privacy that must be regulated (e.g., restricted to only certain violent crimes). Just because you opt to share your DNA doesn’t mean your relatives do. Also:

• DNA testing isn’t infallible, and has led to wrongful convictions due to human error, contamination, secondary transfer, and other factors.

Podcast: NHPR’s Bear Brook explores the first cold case solved using genetic genealogy.